SpaceX's Dominance in Private Spaceflight Continues Despite Falling Short of Launch Goals

SpaceX dominated private spaceflight in 2023, setting a record for the most orbital launches with 92 successful missions, including delivering Starlink satellites and conducting crewed flights. Blue Origin faced setbacks with its New Shepard rocket but successfully completed a suborbital payload flight in December. United Launch Alliance had a quiet year with only three launches, while its Vulcan rocket faced delays and is now scheduled for its maiden flight in January 2024. Rocket Lab experienced a failure but resumed flights and is working on rocket reusability. Virgin Galactic had a steady year with its VSS Unity spaceplane, while Virgin Orbit shut down after bankruptcy. Other newcomers, Relativity Space and ABL Space, faced failures but are preparing for future launches. 2024 is expected to be a big year for spaceflight with SpaceX planning 12 launches per month and upcoming projects from Arianespace, NASA, and Boeing.